


The Silent Table

by things_that_matter



Series: CMBYN: Life with Ollie [45]
Category: Call Me By Your Name (2017), Call Me By Your Name - All Media Types, Call Me by Your Name - André Aciman
Genre: Brothers, Comfort, Detention, Domestic Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Drama, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Intimacy, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-12 09:41:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29632719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/things_that_matter/pseuds/things_that_matter
Summary: Elio finds out that Ollie has to sit at the Silent Table, and he might be more upset by it than Ollie is.
Relationships: Oliver/Elio Perlman
Series: CMBYN: Life with Ollie [45]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2094873
Comments: 6
Kudos: 19





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> 2nd chapter complete.

Elio opened Ollie’s bedroom door and was astonished by what he saw. “Ollie Perlman, what are you doing still in bed?” Elio asked, perturbed. He’d woken Ollie in plenty of time to get ready for school, and he had assumed Ollie was in fact getting ready. 

Ollie pulled the blanket up over his head in answer. 

“No way,” Elio said, pulling the blanket off, leaving Ollie feeling less than cozy. “I’m not happy with you.” 

Ollie pulled his pillow over his head, having nothing else nearby. 

“Ollie!” Elio scolded. He reached to pull the pillow away as he had the blanket, but Ollie was prepared this time, and gripped it tightly. Elio considered simply yanking it off forcefully, but he didn’t.

“Ollie, I have a test today, so you need to get up right now. I’m serious.”

“No!” Ollie’s muffled voice came from beneath the pillow, so that the pillow itself seemed to answer. 

Elio looked at the clock and panic rose in his throat like bile. 

“If I’m late for my test, you’re grounded,” he said, knowing that it wouldn’t help in the least. Ollie hated to be threatened, especially by his big brother. 

“I don’t care!” Ollie’s pillow said. 

“You  _ will _ care,” Elio said. 

“No, I _won’t_!” Ollie sat up and hurled his pillow at Elio, wanting Elio to see how upset he was.

These kinds of mornings were, thankfully, rare, but they were so difficult. Oliver wasn’t home to help. Elio was frazzled and anxious. It was a recipe for disaster. 

Elio sat on the edge of the bed beside Ollie, sensing that this might be an occasion where slowing down actually saved time in the long run. “Ollie, I can see that something is wrong. I wish you would have talked to me last night when we would have had plenty of time to figure it out. We still will figure it out. You know that whatever it is, I will help you. But it just can’t be right this minute. If I miss my test, I will fail. College is not like second grade.” 

He held his breath as he watched Ollie thinking it over. 

Finally, Ollie started getting up, and Elio breathed a sigh of relief. He tossed Ollie some clothes. “Thank you, Ollie. Brush your teeth and you can eat in the car. Be ready in five minutes. Okay?” he asked.

“Okay,” Ollie groaned. 

Elio had hoped that once they got into the car, Ollie would perk up, but he didn’t. He was almost afraid to ask, but he knew he had to. “Do you want to tell me what’s wrong?” he asked, backing out of the driveway. 

“Nuh-uh,” Ollie said. He then shook his head for emphasis.

Elio sighed. “Okay, Ollie. Maybe after school we can talk.” 

Ollie jerked his head toward the window and crossed his arms. When they got closer to the school, though, Elio looked over and saw big, round tears slipping silently down his little brother’s cheeks. He didn’t want to drop Ollie off so upset, but he didn’t know what else to do. He blamed himself for not being more diligent this morning. If he’d taken the time to ensure Ollie was up and getting ready, he would have noticed that there was a problem in time to be of some help. 

When they pulled up to the school, Ollie turned to him, tears streaming down his face. “Please don’t make me go,” he said with a sniffle. 

Elio looked at the clock and felt he was having to choose between his brother and his test. But when he thought of it that way, it was an easy choice. Ollie would come first every time. He pulled the car out of the car rider line and into a vacant spot, clicked the shifter into park, and even turned off the ignition to show Ollie that he was no longer in a hurry and wanted to hear about whatever was wrong. 

Ollie swiped at his eyes, trying to stop crying. He hated to cry in front of his brother. 

“Tell me,” Elio said while reaching into the console for a napkin and then dabbing Ollie’s eyes with it. Ollie then reached into the console himself and grabbed a large handful.

“Promise you won’t be mad,” Ollie said next. 

“Well, I can’t really promise not to be mad, but I can promise to help you with whatever it is. Okay?” 

Ollie nodded and blew his nose. He thought he was feeling better and could explain to Elio, but as soon as he spoke, his voice quivered again. “Today at lunch I have to sit at the…” Ollie put his head on the dashboard and gave a little sob. Elio reached over and rubbed his back, which helped him feel better. He still couldn’t look Elio in the eye, though, so he kept his forehead on the dashboard and muttered, “I have to sit at the silent table.” 

“What is the silent table?” 

“It’s for the bad kids,” Ollie explained with a whimper. 

Elio felt his face grow hot. His jaw grew tense. His fingers tightened their grip on the wheel. 

Sensing Elio’s stillness, Ollie turned his head to the side, glimpsing Elio’s face. He cried then, really cried. “You’re… mad.. .at… me… “ 

Elio patted his back a few times in what he hoped was a comforting gesture. “I’m not mad at you. Tell me what happened?” 

Ollie explained that the teacher had decided yesterday that anyone who didn’t put their name on their paper would sit at the silent table the following day. Despite the warning, three students had forgotten to write their name on their paper, and Ollie was one of the three. After some gentle questioning, Elio determined that the so-called silent table was essentially lunch detention. The student would go through the line with their class, but rather than sitting with their class as usual, they would take their food to sit at the detention table. Elio deduced it was called the silent table because the students weren’t allowed to talk. 

The more he thought about this, the more furious he became. He was seething by the end of the talk. He simply put the car in reverse, backed out, and drove away from the school. 

This confused Ollie. “Where are we going?” 

“Away from here,” Elio said. Hearing his words, he realized he sounded childish, but he doubted Ollie would notice. “Let’s go home and make a fort, want to?” he asked. 

Ollie had gotten exactly what he wanted. Exactly what he asked for. But now that he had, he found it unsatisfying, though he didn’t know why. “Okay,” he replied. 

Back at home, they built a fort together, and then they made s’mores in the oven, since Elio could not build a fire. 

It should have been a lovely day, but for some reason, which neither of them could put their finger on, it wasn’t. Finally, after lunch, Ollie said, “You need to call Oliver.” 

Elio didn’t know why, but he dreaded calling Oliver. When he didn’t answer Ollie right away, Ollie elaborated. “Because he will try to pick me up from school.” 

Elio nodded. “Right. I know. I’ll call him. Why don’t you take Olive outside for a while?” 

Ollie knew Elio was trying to get rid of him, and it sharpened his sensation that they were doing something wrong. He worried that Elio and Oliver might even get into an argument because of him. And they never argued, not really. But what else could he do except say, “Come on, Olive. Let’s go outside, girl.” 

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

“What?” Oliver said into the phone after Elio’s explanation of the day’s events. He couldn’t conceal his dismay.

“What _what_?” Elio asked. He thought he’d been pretty clear about what had happened. 

Oliver was quiet for a long time. Ollie was just coming back inside with Olive, when he finally said, “Okay, Elio. See you later.” And abruptly hung up the phone. 

To complicate the matter further, Oliver decided to go home early. He left after his final class, canceled his office hours, and went directly home. This meant that the living room was a huge fort, and the broiler was still on from their previous s’more making. Oliver looked around, livid. He was not hot-tempered by any means. But, though he would never say it aloud, at that moment he felt like the parent of two children rather than one, and a single parent at that. 

As he stood surveying the living room, he knew it probably looked worse than it was. “Elio?” he called. “Ollie?”

No one answered him, but he heard rustling from inside the fort. A moment later, two little eyes were peering at him, a messy curtain of brown, wavy hair partially covering them. Next to emerge was Elio, looking sheepish, but yet stubborn. 

“Sorry,” Ollie apologized right away. 

Elio’s lips parted as he turned toward his little brother, feeling slightly betrayed. 

Although Oliver was angry, or perhaps  _ because _ he was angry, he did not want any added drama. “It will be okay, Ollie. Don’t worry. Let’s clean this up for now and then we can figure out what happened today, okay?” 

Ollie nodded and began picking up pillows and putting them away. Elio and Oliver folded blankets together. And just as he knew it would be, the room was very quickly returned to its usual tidy but lived-in state. 

“Ollie, I want you to go do your homework so Elio and I can talk okay?” 

Ollie shook his head, unwilling to leave Elio’s side. Elio nodded though and gave him a little side hug. “It’s okay, Ollie. We are just going to talk,” he said. 

“You won’t fight?” 

“No, of course not,” Elio said. It surprised him, and made him a little sad, that Ollie was worried about such a thing. Elio and Oliver rarely argued, and never around Ollie. Elio couldn’t ever remember his parents fighting, either. 

Ollie looked at Oliver then, and he nodded his agreement. Once Ollie was gone, Elio sat down on the sofa, rankled. Oliver sat down beside him, pleasantly enough. 

“So, what happened again?”

Elio retold the series of events to Oliver, and somehow, each time he told the story, he became less certain that he’d done the right thing. Oliver said nothing the entire time he spoke, yet he still found himself defensive. 

“That’s one reason why I didn’t want him in school to begin with. It’s ridiculous! They already have to sit at a desk in silence most of the day, which is completely unnatural. They have a short lunch, and a short recess, and that’s it. I’m not going to let them take away Ollie’s one chance to socialize in a day just because he didn’t write his name on his paper. That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard! Not to mention how humiliating it is, making him sit at a table for the “bad kids” over that.” Elio finished. 

Oliver was glad he’d waited until he got home to talk to Elio about this. He had been angry on the phone, but sitting with Elio, he understood how upset he was, and that he was really trying to do the right thing for Ollie, though it was misguided in Oliver’s opinion

He reached over, clasping Elio’s hand. “I know it’s upsetting, but just take a breath.” 

Elio took a breath. 

“You can’t spare Ollie from the consequences of his mistakes, Elio. And I promise you, you don’t want to. That’s the big brother thing making you feel that way.” 

Elio looked even more hurt. He couldn’t believe Oliver would approve of such harsh treatment of Ollie. “So you’re fine with it?” he asked. “And what horrible mistake did he make that was worthy of such a severe punishment?” 

Oliver leaned his head back against the sofa and closed his eyes. “He just needs to put his name on his paper, Elio. It’s not that difficult.” 

“I agree but,” he spluttered. 

“One day he might get a really mean teacher, like me, who simply won’t grade the work of students who don’t put their name on it.” 

Elio scoffed. “That’s ridiculous. And way too harsh.”

“But there are harsh people in the world and Ollie might have to interact with them from time to time. You won’t always be there to shield him from everything that you think is too harsh.” 

Elio sighed. 

Oliver continued, “If you hadn’t intervened, it would be over by now, Ollie would have gone out to recess, and right about now he’d be realizing that the world hadn’t ended.” 

Elio sighed. He was beginning to feel guilty. 

“But now Ollie has to worry the rest of today, all of tonight, tomorrow morning, and then he will  _ still _ have lunch detention.” 

Elio looked alarmed at the last part. “What?!”

Oliver couldn’t help but smile. “Of course. Surely someone has told you that you have to face your problems. He’ll still have the same punishment waiting for him tomorrow.” 

Elio was disgusted. It hadn’t even occurred to him. Finally he said, “Then I’ll just send a note saying he can’t.” 

Oliver shook his head, smiling in the way Elio always told him was condescending. Elio didn’t say anything about it today, though. “Are you going to write him a note saying he doesn’t have to put his name on his paper, too?” Oliver teased. 

Elio smirked. “Possibly.” 

Oliver laughed then, and they looked at each other for just a moment too long. They were kissing when Ollie came into the room to see if he could come out yet. They told him he could. 

Ollie squeezed in right between them, smiling. “Good. I was starting to think you were making Elio sit at the silent table.” 


End file.
